Sonnet 130 Tone

660 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Love in sonnet 18 and sonnet 130 essay

As She Is
We live in a world where women are compared to items on what seems to be an endless list. These comparisons vary from things such as the shape of a bottle, to the radiance of the sun. In Sonnet 130 written by William Shakespeare, the typical cliched comparisons are taken into a different perspective than the one typically used today. Unlike the normal swooning nature of the cliches, the speaker in Sonnet 130 uses a critical and judgemental tone to discredit these typical romantic platitudes and show that although love is not picture perfect it can still be special and true.
After a first reading of the sonnet, the speaker seems to be using a sardonic tone to judge the imperfections of his mistress. For instance in the first line of the sonnet the speaker seems very critical as he explains, “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” (line 1). By using this commonly used cliche in a negative way an opposing feeling towards the speaker's mistress is detected. The …show more content…

The speaker spots the imperfections in his mistress like the fact that her breath “reeks” and does not smell like scented perfumes (7-8). As the speaker explains this, most people would find it as an insult, but the speaker is actually saying this is to be honest and truthful instead of saying that the mistress is constantly perfect. The speaker then proves that his condemnatory tone is not used to analyze his lover in the couplet of the sonnet. The couplet reads, “and yet by heaven I think my love as rare / as any she belied with false compare” (13-14). Here the speaker shows that although his mistress has her flaws, he does not recognize them as being her fault. He, the speaker, knows that the love that he and her share is rare and he cherishes it as he

Show More
Related

  • In This Strange Labyrinth, by Mary Wroth

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e speaker admits she is worried and confused when she says, “The sonnet is the story of a woman’s struggle to make choices regarding love.” (14) Her mind is disturbed from the trials of love.

    Read More

  • Close Reading of Shakespeare´s Sonnet 130

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sonnet 130 is Shakespeare’s harsh yet realistic tribute to his quite ordinary mistress. Conventional love poetry of his time would employ Petrarchan imagery and entertain notions of courtly love. Francis Petrarch, often noted for his perfection of the sonnet form, developed a number of techniques for describing love’s pleasures and torments as well as the beauty of the beloved. While Shakespeare adheres to this form, he undermines it as well. Through the use of deliberately subversive wordplay and exaggerated similes, ambiguous concepts, and adherence to the sonnet form, Shakespeare creates a parody of the traditional love sonnet. Although, in the end, Shakespeare embraces the overall Petrarchan theme of total and consuming love.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and Clause McKay's The Harlem Dancer

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”, was published in the mid-1590, and published with the rest of Shakespeare’s sonnets in 1609. The sonnet has fourteen lines, and divided into three quatrains and one couplet at the end. The rhyme scheme is cross rhyme, with the last two lines being couplets that rhyme. The sonnet compares between nature and the poets’ lover or mistress. He shows a more realistic view of his lover. Needless to say his significant other wasn’t physically attractive, yet he loved her inside beauty. Today we may use the term, “It’s not all about looks, but what’s inside”.

    Read More

  • Essay on Lust and Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 and Campion’s There is a Garden

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    When a comparison is made between There is a Garden in Her Face by Thomas Campion and Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, the difference between lustful adoration and true love becomes evident. Both poems involve descriptions of a beloved lady seen through the eyes of the speaker, but the speaker in Campion's poem discusses the woman's beautiful perfections, while the speaker in Shakespeare's poem shows that it is the woman's faults which make her beautiful.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he writes "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare." (lines 13-14) in the final couplet, one responds with an enlightened appreciation, making them understand Shakespeare's message that true love consists of something deeper than physical beauty. Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a wonderful fashion. Not only does he express himself through direct interpretation of his sonnet, but also through the levels at which he styled and produced it. One cannot help but appreciate his message of true love over lust, along with his creative criticism of Petrarchan sonnets.

    Read More

  • Sonnet XVII, by Pablo Neruda

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Sonnet XVII,” the text begins by expressing the ways in which the narrator does not love, superficially. The narrator is captivated by his object of affection, and her inner beauty is of the upmost significance. The poem shows the narrator’s utter helplessness and vulnerability because it is characterized by raw emotions rather than logic. It then sculpts the image that the love created is so personal that the narrator is alone in his enchantment. Therefore, he is ultimately isolated because no one can fathom the love he is encountering. The narrator unveils his private thoughts, leaving him exposed and susceptible to ridicule and speculation. However, as the sonnet advances toward an end, it displays the true heartfelt description of love and finally shows how two people unite as one in an overwhelming intimacy.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Sonnet, "My Mistress' Eyes are Nothing like the Sun"

    431 Words  | 1 Pages

    This poem speaks of a love that is truer than denoting a woman's physical perfection or her "angelic voice." As those traits are all ones that will fade with time, Shakespeare exclaims his true love by revealing her personality traits that caused his love. Shakespeare suggests that the eyes of the woman he loves are not twinkling like the sun: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (1). Her hair is compared to a wire: "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head" (3). These negative comparisons may sound almost unloving, however, Shakespeare proves that the mistress outdistances any goddess. This shows that the poet appreciates her human beauties unlike a Petrarchan sonnet that stresses a woman's cheek as red a rose or her face white as snow. Straying away from the dazzling rhetoric, this Shakespearean poem projects a humane and friendly impression and elicits laughter while expressing a truer love. A Petrarchan sonnet states that love must never change; this poem offers a more genuine expression of love by describing a natural woman.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Sonnets of Petrarchan and Shakespearean in Style, Structure and Subject Approach

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare and Petrarch, two poets popular for their contributions on the issue of love, both tackle the subject of their work through sonnet, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the way, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, it is clear that in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare in fact parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Shakespeare seems, by all accounts, to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s piece by giving an English poem portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. In reviewing "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan work. The leading major contrast between the two poems is the piece structure utilized (McLaughlin).

    Read More

  • Gender Roles and Power Struggles in Edmund Spencer’s Amoretti

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the course of Edmund Spencer’s Amoretti, the “Petrarchan beloved certainly underwent a transformation” (Lever 98); the speaker depicts the beloved as merciless and is not content with being an “unrequited lover” (Roche 1) as present in a Petrarchan sonnet. Throughout Sonnet 37 and Sonnet 54, the speaker provides insight into the beloved not seen within the Petrarchan sonnets; though the speaker does present his uncontrollable love for the beloved, he does so through his dissatisfaction with his position and lack of control. In Sonnet 37, the speaker describes the beloved as an enchantress who artfully captures the lover in her “golden snare” (Spencer, 6) and attempts to warn men of the beloved’s nature. Sonnet 54, the speaker is anguished by the beloved’s ignorance towards his pain and finally denies her humanity. Spencer allows the speaker to display the adversarial nature of his relationship with the beloved through the speaker’s negative description of the beloved, the presentation of hope of escaping from this love, and his discontent with his powerlessness. Spencer presents a power struggle and inverted gender roles between the lover and the beloved causing ultimate frustration for the speaker during his fight for control.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 As A Parody Of Courtly Love

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is a sonnet much different than the normal love sonnets of that time. A well-known re-occurring them in Shakespeare’s sonnets is love. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 can be interpreted many different ways. Sonnet 130 describes what love is to Shakespeare by making the poem a joke in order to mock other poets. In sonnet 130, Shakespeare spoke of a courtly love. Shakespeare goes against the usual style of courtly love writing in this sonnet. “In comparison to Petrarch’s Sonnet 90 and Shakespeare’s own Sonnets 18 and 20, Sonnet 130 is a parody of courtly love, favoring a pastoral love that is austere in its declaration, yet deep-rooted in sincerity” (Dr. Tilla Slabbert 1). Sonnet 130 mocks the men who use the traditional

    Read More

  • Comparison: Petrarchan and Shakespearean Sonnets

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the form of sonnet, Shakespeare and Petrarch both address the subject of love, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the manner, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare, in fact, parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Through his English poem, Shakespeare seems to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s work by portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, upon a review of "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” one quickly perceives that Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. However, Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan style.

    Read More

  • Essay On Petrarchan Sonnet

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...all & Maynard 1676). He is harsh to his love, who he calls a mistress. However, at the end of the sonnet, he is admires and accepts her, ‘and yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare’ (Lawall & Maynard 1676). Petrarch sonnet if more complex, it is fond and even slightly defiant, ‘you say she is not so today? Well, though the bow’s unbent, the wound bleeds on’ (Lawall & Maynard 1676). He accepts that she is not what she used to be but he still loves her.

    Read More

  • Sonnet 18 And 130 Analysis

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    The love that a person has for someone is not the same for other people. They can look at their love through nature or just by their beauty. Shakespeare has the ability to explain his love for someone by using nature as a reference. Looking at two of Shakespeare’s sonnets 18 and 130 explore the differences and similarities between one another. In Sonnet 18 and 130, both show Shakespeare’s knowledge in developing his love and respect.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Love To The Dark Lady Analysis

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    That means, the approaches of poet’s love remain the same. In one place, he portrays beauty as conveying a great responsibility in the sonnets addressed to the young man. The poet has experienced what he thinks of as "the marriage of true minds," also known as true love, that his love remains strong, and that he believes that it’s eternal. Nothing will stop their love, as in the symbols like all the ships, stars and stormy seas that fill the landscape of the poem and so on what can affect to their love. The poet is too much attracted with the young man’s beauty, though this indicates to something really bad behavior. But in another place, Shakespeare makes fun of the dark lady in sonnet 130. He explains that his lover, the dark lady, has wires for hair, bad breath, dull cleavage, a heavy step, pale lips and so on, but to him, real love is, the sonnet implies, begins when we accept our lovers for what they are as well as what they are not. But other critics may not agree with this and to them, beauty may define to something

    Read More

  • My Mistress Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun Literary Devices

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” by William Shakespeare, the most important poetic feature is the situation created in the poem because it is the feature that makes the reader begin to question what is happening, which ultimately leads to a better understanding of the theme that women are overly compared to clichés they cannot live up to in the era of Petrarch Sonnets. Petrarch’s famous sonnet sequence is a collection of love poems to a certain woman idolizing her beauty and perfection through extravagant metaphors and similes. The metaphors soon became clichés but they continued to be used to make comparisons about a poet’s lover. Shakespeare uses a satirical approach in this poem to mock the cheesy Petrarchan metaphors by taking the common clichés to describe his mistress, known as the “Dark

    Read More

More about Sonnet 130 Tone

Open Document